Kabayan Mummy Burial Caves

Location in Luzon Show map of Luzon Location in the Philippines Show map of Philippines
Alternative name	Benguet Mummy Caves, Ibaloi Mummy Caves
Location	Kabayan, Benguet, Philippines
Coordinates	16°33′N 120°45′E / 16.550°N 120.750°E / 16.550; 120.750
Type	Burial Cave
Management	National Museum of the Philippines

The Fire Mummies of the Philippines, also known as the Kabayan Mummies, Benguet Mummies, or Ibaloi Mummies, are a group of mummies found along the mountain slopes of Kabayan, Benguet, a town in northern Philippines. They were made from as early as 2000 BCE. Today, they remain in natural caves and a museum in Kabayan.

Scientists believe that the Fire Mummies were created by the Ibaloi between 1200 and 1500 CE in five towns in Benguet and buried in caves. Others believe that the process of mummification began in 2000 BCE.^[1] What makes the Fire Mummies unique is their mummification process, which would begin shortly before a person died, where he would ingest a very salty drink. After the death, the corpse was washed and set over a fire in a seated position, drying the fluids. Smoke from tobacco was blown into the mouth to dry the body's internal organs. Eventually, herbs were rubbed into the body.^[2] Mummified bodies were then placed in a coffin made of pinewood and laid to rest in rock shelters, natural caves or man made burial niches.^{[3] [1]}

When the Fire Mummies were uncovered in the early 20th century by Westerners (the mummies have been known to local communities for hundreds of years), many of them were stolen by white people, because the caves were mostly unprotected. Because of this, Monument Watch, a nonprofit organization, declared the site as one of the 100 most endangered sites in the world.^[4]

After logging operations intensified in the area, the location of many caves became known. Unfortunately, this has led to looting, as unconscientious visitors have been eager to leave their mark, including graffiti, on the Kabayan mummies. The Kabayan Mummies were listed in the 1998 World Monuments Watch by the World Monuments Fund. Funding through American Express was used for emergency conservation and the creation of a comprehensive management plan. Additionally, local authorities from surrounding municipalities collaborated in cultural awareness campaign to introduce the Mummies to Filipinos. Tourist facilities were also constructed in order to control visitation and prevent harmful intrusions.^[5]

The Fire Mummies remain in natural caves with relatively small security and have been designated as one of the 100 world's most endangered heritage sites. Officials know 50-80 other mummies, but they will not give their locations because of their fear of vandalism. A small museum in Kabayan also displays a few mummies.^[2]

In May 2024 the National Museum of the Philippines RAOD Chief Paolo Mar Chan announced the PHP25 million rehabilitation of National Museum-Kabayan's Site 1, the home to female mummies. It houses a geological collection and natural history artifacts on local death rites and rituals, mummies, plants used in mummification process and Kabayan-Ibaloi people items. The Museum also conserves and protects the Timbac burial caves and the mummy rocks, which features the famous “Apo Anno” mummy, a revered ancestor, in Buguias, Benguet. Timbac fire mummies are kept and preserved in the Timbac Mummy Rock Shelters or Timbac Caves in Mount Timbak (Mt. Singakalsa, 2717 meters above sea level, Luzon's 3rd highest and the 9th highest in the Philippines, especially in Barangay Pacso, Kabayan). Kabayan is home to Ibaloi Bendian festival where the 15th Eco-Tourism and Bindiyan Festival-Bendian dance 2024 was held in May 1. Kabayan mummies sites are the Opdas Mass Burial Cave, Tinongchol Burial Rock, Timbac Burial Rock Shelter, Pongasan and Kangal and Kabayan Museum.^[6][7]

The Kabayan Mummy Burial Caves are listed as National Cultural Treasures by the National Museum of the Philippines pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 260 signed by President Ferdinand Marcos in August 1973.^[8] It is also under consideration as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Scholars are also pushing for the inclusion of the mummy burial caves in neighboring Buguias town in the Kabayan Mummy Burial Caves nomination of the Philippines in the UNESCO Tentative List. The caves in Buguias are home to a Benguet folk hero, Apo Anno; the burial caves in Kabayan and Buguias will collectively be called as the Benguet Mummy Burial Caves or Mummy Burial Caves in Kabayan and Buguias.^[3]

• List of World Heritage Sites in the Philippines
• List of World Heritage Sites in Southeast Asia
• List of World Heritage Sites
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• Carascal, Mark B.; Fontanilla, Ian Kendrich C.; De Ungria, Maria Corazon A. (2021). "The Ibaloi fire mummies: the art and science of mummification in the Philippines". Anthropological Science. 129 (2): 197–202. doi:10.1537/ase.210422.
• Amery, Colin; Curran, Brian; Abrams, Harry (1 November 2001). Vanishing Histories. Book News, Inc. p. 107. ISBN 9780810914353.
• Ang, Walter. "The Mummy - that Brendan Fraser didn't see". Philippine Daily Inquirer. pp. E4.

• Kabayan Branch, National Museum of the Philippines
• Fire Mummies of the Philippines